Julie Andreyev (born in 1962) is a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores themes of animal agency and consciousness.Stephan Hui, "Vegan Congress takes form at Emily Carr University of Art + Design", The Straight, January 16, 2014 Her ongoing Animal Lover work explores nonhuman animal agency and creativity through modes of interspecies collaboration and aleatoric methods. The Animal Lover projects seek to contribute towards an ethic of compassion and regard for the intrinsic worth of other-than-human individuals. She was born in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Education Andreyev received her Diploma of Fine Arts degree from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 1988. She received a Master of Arts degree from the Simon Fraser University in 1999. She completed her PhD at Simon Fraser University in 2017 where her research examined compassion as a means for improved human awareness and relationship with more-than-human worlds.2013 Doctoral Candidates Retrieved January 26, 2014
Career Julie Andreyev is currently an associate professor at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and Artistic Director of Interactive Futures."Julie Andreyev, Martha González Palacios, Nick Lakowski, Gwenessa Lam, Jeremy Isao Speier, Marlene Yuen: Ground Zero Redux", UNIT/PITT Projects
Her work has been shown across Canada, in the US, Europe and Japan in galleries and festivals such as the Peabody Essex Museum, the Vancouver Art Gallery, SIGGRAPH, Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, Viper, CHI, Japan Media Arts Festival, Digital Art Weeks, and Nuit Blanche.ECUAD Faculty Research: People http://research.ecuad.ca/associatedprojects/people/julie-andreyev/ Retrieved January 26, 2014
Art Andreyev's art is concerned with issues surrounding new media, social media, technology and human/nonhuman relationships. The Animal Lover projects are often produced in collaboration with companion dogs Tom and Sugi where respect, fun and challenge are employed in the process. The dogs participate directly in the research and content creation of the work by suggesting ideas for projects and by determining the material for production. Also, aleatoric and improvisational methods are used that provide for a chance, open-ended expectation, surprise and learning."Interactive Futures '11: Presenters" , Interactive Futures, July 31, 2011
Her work is support by The Canada Council for the Arts, The British Columbia Arts Council, Foreign Affairs Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
The following are some examples of her work.
Vegan Congress
Andreyev is founding member of the Vegan Congress, an activist group that creates relational projects to help develop discourse and practical ethics and provides events and information about vegan practice. One of the objectives of the project is to make ethical practice more visible within the community.Stephan Hui, "Vegan Congress takes form at Emily Carr University of Art + Design", The Straight, January 16, 2014
Scratch Theremin
For Scratch Theremin, Andreyev works with canine Tom using interactive software and a theremin to produce a collaborative improvisational interspecies performance."ART & NATURE CENTER REOPENS WITH NEW EXHIBITION BEYOND HUMAN: ARTIST-ANIMAL COLLABORATIONS", Peabody Essex Museum: 'Press Releases, September 03, 2013 The aim of the project is to advance methods of improvisation and active listening, proposing live audio soundscapes that mesh canine sounds with electroacoustic practice. In the process of developing this performance, a custom built theremin, that incorporates a rug as an interface, was created to allow Tom to use scratch and digging gestures to create sound, accompanied by a diverse range of vocalization."Beyond Human: Artist-Animal Collaborations", Peabody Essex Museum These studio performances are audio recorded for use later in the live performance where they are remixed into a new experimental improvisational soundscape. Andreyev accompanies Tom's vocals and rhythms with her own live theremin and software performance. "Interactive Futures '11: Vancouver Experimental Theremin Orchestra" , Interactive Futures, September 28, 2011
*glisten) HIVE
*glisten) HIVE is a digital media project commissioned by 'CODE Live 2' for the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, in which Twitter posts about animal consciousness were visualized in a real-time exhibition space. The collective online communication from participants were visualized as emergent swarms of text, and incorporated a soundscape of vocalizations from Andreyev's dog, Tom.Heidi May, "Julie Andreyev: I Tweet, Therefore I am", Canadian Art, May 27, 2010
Rockstar
For this video work, Andreyev uses audio and visual representations of her canine companion Tom to speculate on his subjective and emotional experience traveling in a car by examining the notion that a canine's sense of smell is a locus for heightened sensitivity and empirical intelligence. The visuals refer to a psychedelic experience, metaphorically representing Tom's experience. The visuals are accompanied by a soundscape constructed from studio recordings of Tom's voice and car engine sounds to create connotative rhythmic and harmonic modes."Performance, Platform: Body Affects" Retrieved Jan 28, 2014
Tom and Sugi Blog / @Tom_and_Sugi
The Tom and Sugi Blog and @Tom_and_Sugi are social media projects, maintained as part of Andreyev's ongoing interspecies collaborative Animal Lover projects, in which animal consciousness and creativity is explored through compassionate means of interactive installation, video and social media."iDMAa 2010: Speakers" Retrieved January 27, 2014 The projects use a Twitter feed to represent the first person point of view of the canines Tom and Sugi and their everyday activities.Animal Lover: Tom and Sugi Twitter feed The blog represents a human reflection on the subjective experience of the canines in their relationship to the artist.Animal Lover: Tom and Sugi Blog
Bird Park Survival Station
The Bird Park Survival Station is a multi-species climate emergency project where Andreyev with team researches ways to improve local habitats by analyzing the needs and activities of local birds residing on her rooftop garden called The Park through computer vision and sound systems. The project have been publicized through several Bird Park videos as well as various publications including Lessons from a Multispecies Art Studio: Uncovering Ecological Understanding & Biophilia Through Creative Reciprocity.
Branching Songs
Branching Songs is a media, sound and performance project drawing attention to the climate emergency, wildlife and habitat loss. Through collaborative research, the Branching Songs team experimented in multispecies collaboration with trees and forests, using sound and new media technologies to support creative and careful interaction. The research generated new methods and techniques for working creatively with trees and forest ecologies resulting in media and sound art creations as well as workshops. Since inception, the project has expanded beyond collaboration with upcoming art events including an exhibition, performances, and several workshops scheduled to take place in Vancouver and on the Sunshine Coast—a coastal region 70km north of Vancouver that has unique intact forests including endangered ones—in the spring and summer of 2023.
Selected exhibitions
2010 Passages, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON (solo)"Mississauga Drift and Animal Love: Interview with Julie Andreyev" Art Gallery of Mississauga: 905 Art Chat, August 31, 2010 CUE: Artists' Videos, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, curated by Daina Augaitis and Christopher Eamonhttp://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_cue.html Vancouver Art Gallery: Past Exhibitions, Retrieved January 27, 2014 Code Live 2, commissioned by Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition, Vancouver, BC"Code Live" Hybridity Music
2011 Interactive Futures '11: Animal Influence, Vancouver"Interactive Futures '11: Presenters" , Interactive Futures, July 31, 2011 Random Elements – a Celebration of Iannis Xenakis, Vancouver New Music, Vancouver Tracing Home, SIGGRAPH 2011 Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC"Tracing Home: SIGGRAPH 2011 Art Gallery", Leonardo Online, July 13, 2011 Signal & Noise Festival, VIVO, Vancouver, BCSky Hester, "Signal and Noise 2011: Make Some Noise" Discorder Magazine, June 20, 2011 User in Flux, CHI Workshop 2011, Vancouver, BC
2012 Taking Time, Surrey Urban Screen, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BCCity of Surrey: Taking Time http://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/13686.aspx Information, Ecology, Wisdom, The 3rd Art and Science International Exhibition, Beijing performance, platform. body affects, Sophiensaele, BerlinCreating with Animals: Videoscreening http://www.sophiensaele.com/archiv.php?IDstueck=1009&hl=de Vanimaux II, Remington/Gam Gallery, Vancouver"VANIMAUX II: Opening & Issue 10 Release! " , SAD MAG, July 16, 2012 Facing the Animal, OR Gallery, VancouverFacing the Animal http://www.orgallery.org/facing-the-animal Vancouver Experimental Theremin Orchestra, Utopia Festival, W2, Vancouver
2013 Beyond Human: Artist – Animal Collaborations, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. 2000 Meilen Unter Dem Meer, Vancouver Experimental Theremin Orchestra, VIVO, Vancouver2000 Meilen Unter Dem Meer :: 2000 Miles Under the Sea
Awards and grants
Doctoral Award, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Provost's Prize of Distinction, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Special Graduate Entrance Award, Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Travel Grant, The Canada Council for the Arts New Media and Audio Art Production Grant, The Canada Council for the Arts Public Outreach: Summer Institute, Workshop and Conference Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Professional Project Assistance for Media Arts Organizations, British Columbia Arts Council Image, Text, Sound and Technology: Summer Institute, Workshop, Conference Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Visual and Media Arts Grant, Arts Promotion Division, Foreign Affairs Canada Project Assistance For Media Artists, British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance for Visual Artists, British Columbia Arts Council Strategic Research Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Interactive Award (Nominee) MAD '03NET Project Award, 2nd International Meeting of Experimental Arts in Madrid Creation/Production Grant, The Canada Council for the Arts Graduate Fellowship, Graduate Liberal Studies, Simon Fraser University
Publications
Andreyev, Julie. Lessons from a Multispecies Art Studio: Uncovering Ecological Understanding & Biophilia Through Creative Reciprocity. Intellect Books, 2021. "Why Look at Animals in Landscapes?", catalogue essay in The Reflexive Animal, SFU Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. 2012 "Endangered Whales and Dolphins Affected by Tankers", The Common Sense Canadian, July 16, 2012Julie Andreyev, "Endangered Whales and Dolphins Affected by Tankers" The Common Sense Canadian, July 16, 2012 "Dog Voice: A Memoir", Interactive Futures '11: Animal Influence, Antennae, Issue 21, 2012 Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture Issue 21 Summer 2012 "People Respond to Images that Provide Hope", interview with Sam Easterson, Interactive Futures '11: Animal Influence, Antennae, Issue 22, 2012 "Wait", Leonardo, Special Issue Volume 44, Number 4, ACM SIGGRAPH, MIT Press, Leonardo/ISAST, Cambridge, Mass., USA "Animal Lover: Aria", Art Catalogue/Computational Aesthetics 2009, Eurographics Association, Germany. "Four Wheel Drift," (with Petra Watson), Transdisciplinary Digital Art: Sound, Vision and the New Screen, Randy Adams, Steve Gibson, Stefan Muller-Arisona (Eds), Springer, Berlin.